As many as 3,846 small scales rain water harvesting schemes aimed at promoting appropriate technologies for water storage in rural and urban areas have been completed so far across the country.
Officials sources told APP here that out of total 3,846 schemes, highest number of 3,606 schemes have been completed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), followed by 180 in Punjab and 60 in Sindh provinces.
Sharing details of such projects, they said some 3,980 schemes were planned for Punjab, of which 180 have been completed while work on 320 schemes were under progress. Some 3,480 schemes were at approval stages, they said. In KPK, some 12,790 schemes were proposed, out of which 3,606 schemes have already been completed and 42 were under progress.
Similarly, in Sindh out of 108 schemes, 60 have already been completed while work on 23 were going on. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) authorities have submitted some 600 such schemes the federal government for approval.
Due to the emerging water crisis, the government was also promoting appropriate technologies for rainwater harvesting in rural as well as urban areas which was one of the important objectives of the National Water Policy (NWP).
Consistent with NWP, the concept of rainwater harvesting is being used in the country for water conservation for crops and livestock as well as groundwater recharge and the countrywide data regarding progress on implementation of various rainwater harvesting RWH projects in Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICT) showed that 69 check dams/ponds etc. have been completed.
Currently, 39 such schemes were currently in progress in ICT while 57 more schemes have been planned for the capital till 2024, the sources said.
In Sindh, through federal government funding, around 28 small storage/mini dams have been completed, the number of ongoing mini dam projects was seven.
Similarly, the Sindh government under its Annual Development Plan (ADP) built 36 small storage dams/delay action dams, retention weirs and Impervious Sub-Surface Outflow (ISSO) barriers while working in progress on 12 ongoing mini dam projects.
In Balochistan, Abato and Sanza dams in the Chaman have been built for water storage while work on Diasara dam was in process. In District Killa Abdullah, 65 out of 200 ongoing dams have been completed while work was in progress on the remaining sites.
In District Killa Saifullah, work on 71 dams out of 100 ongoing dams, construction of 200 Small Check Dams for Ground Water Recharge in Quetta and construction of 100 Delay Action Dams in Tehsil Dobandi, Gulistan, Killa Abdullah and Chaman area have been completed.
In KPK, 13 small dams have been completed so far while other 14 were under various stages of execution.
In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), construction of 600 water tanks and harvesting structures for storage of 4.5 million gallons of water was in progress while a feasibility study for the Bhimber dam project has been completed.
Moreover, a feasibility study of 34 mini dams to store 14,200 acre feet of water has also been completed.